You might think that packing for a gay cruise is like packing for any other cruise, however, it’s quite different indeed!

Our first cruise experience was with Celebrity Cruises and although this was not a ‘gay cruise’, it was very gay friendly and you can read more about it here. We loved the experience and as a result booked ourselves on to an Atlantis gay cruise to the Caribbean for the following year!

However, for our first Atlantis gay cruise our packing list is significantly different. Having talked to many avid Atlantis cruisers, there are many items to pack that we had never thought about in the slightest! Take a look at our list ‘What to pack for a gay cruise’ below and see if you agree.

Given the advancements in technology and low cost airfare, it’s never been a better time to travel to your dream destinations and capture the beauty of the world with your trusty camera.

Believe it or not, most smartphones now boast cameras that could go head to head with high-quality photography equipment released just a few short years ago.

You no longer need to lug around and wish losing bags upon bags of photography equipment because you can just carry it all in your pocket. But on that note, where are the best places for travel photography where you can capture picturesque landscapes?

Norway

With its fjords and mountainous landscapes, this Scandinavian country offers photogenic landscapes that could be mistaken for beautiful fantasy-scapes straight out of a medieval novel.

You can travel just a half hour outside of any major city in Norway and your eyes will be in for a feast of staggering peaks, quaint villages nestled in mountain valleys, wide expanses of ice and snow, and alpine forests.

Do you enjoy ‘non-traditional sexual relationships’? Then mind where you travel. Over the last two decades, same-sex marriage and legal protection for the LGBTI community has become commonplace throughout many countries. But that has only widened the gulf with other parts of the world, where homosexuality remains illegal, criminal and in some cases even punishable by death.

This map was published by the Australian company Travel Insurance Direct as a risk guide for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex tourists and travellers.

Coded in the colours of the rainbow flag, the map ranks countries from places with the broadest legal recognition and protection (purple) to those where the law is used to prosecute rather than protect LGBTI people (red).

We first met the Broadway actress Tovah Feldshuh in Ft. Lauderdale in 2007 where she was portraying Katharine Hepburn in our friend Matthew Lombardo’s “TEA AT FIVE”. In March of 2015 she hiked Mount Kilimanjaro with her son. She said that she was inspired after the 2014 death of her mother at the age of 104, and her own athletic role in Pippin in which she had to swing on a trapeze.

“I really do feel we’re only in this body once,” she said. “I just want enough money to buy experience. I can forego a dress, but the idea of taking a trip and trekking Mount Kilimanjaro or going on the Trans-Siberian railroad or tracking lemurs in Madagascar — these things are very exciting to me. To see the world until I leave my own body. It’s now or not at all.”

And of course we all know what Auntie Mame said about life, “Yes! Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.” And what a life she lived and she knew how to live life well. There were few dull moments in her life.

Unfortunately we know way too many people who live very boring lives, doing the same thing day in and day out, month after month and year after year, without traveling or seeing new things and experiencing how other people live.

Whether you want to take a cruise or hike up a mountain or ride the rapids on the river, or visit a large city or visit the forests or ocean, there are literally hundreds of things that you can do here in the United States.

A cross country driving trip is always extremely interesting, visiting the sights and sounds of the land along the way. Forget all the chain restaurants when you travel and try the local ones. Eat different things that you don’t normally do, from real southern cooking in the South or Cajun food in New Orleans to New England Lobsters, to Boston Baked Beans to Barbeque and grits. In Florida we have tried Alligator burgers and in New Mexico we have tried calf cheeks tacos. Perhaps they are something that we would not enjoy on a regular basis but we did enjoy trying them. We have dined with American Indians on their reservations as well.

We have been rafting down the Colorado River, climbed many mountains and discovered interesting underground caves and went on a boat ride thru the Everglades. For those who cannot afford to travel all around the country, just enjoy your own State. Google your State and visit their websites to see what your State offers. For instance, http://www.travelok.com/ gives a listing of dozens and dozens of things to do and see in that State.

So if you can only travel close to where you live and only have a couple or three days, you can still get away from your ‘regular life” and enjoy new and interesting things. You are never too old or young to travel. We are fortunate and we have been traveling with a str8 couple in their 80’s for the past two years and have driven in 17 States and are ready next month to drive with them out to California. We will be stopping everywhere to see everything and even still be sleeping in a Wigwam Motel.

So don’t be one of those people who Auntie Mame says is starving to death. Make your life something special, just for you!

Always remember to have fun when traveling, meet new people and talk to everyone!

TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS GAY WORLD is written by Donald Pile and Ray Williams, Award-winning, Celebrity travel columnists who write for gay publications from coast to coast (And now legally married).

Jennifer McCreath has a fear of flying of a different sort: a fear she won’t be allowed on board. McCreath, a 43-year-old transgender woman in St. John’s, N.L., takes issue with a federal regulation that prohibits airlines from transporting anyone who “does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification presented.”

Doing away with the regulation is a cause the federal NDP has been pushing for five years, and one for which Justin Trudeau expressed support before becoming prime minister. It’s also one the federal Liberal government should be all over, given its self-proclaimed reputation as the party of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, McCreath said in an interview Wednesday.

“It all comes back to the notion of equality,” said McCreath, who described having to wait for two hours in a holding area before a flight to the United States in 2011, when she was in the process of changing the gender on her birth certificate. The Canadian regulation, she said, gives officials too much power in cases where someone doesn’t look like the gender indicated on their identification.

OutOfOffice.com is giving you the chance to win a two-night stay at the beautiful five-star Edinburgh hotel Nira Caledonia.

Located on the cobbled streets of New Town, this romantic boutique property combines the luxury of a top five-star with the intimacy and peace of a cosy townhouse.

The 28-bedroom hotel features stunning original cornicing and plasterwork. An intimate restaurant is lit by the soft glow of a chandelier, while the striking architecture on the street opposite is visible through original sash windows.

A successful blend of Georgian period features and contemporary furnishings characterises the decor throughout the property. This, together with a home-from-home ambience, defines the very essence of Nira Caledonia.

The prize includes:

Two-night stay in a Petite Double room, complimentary upgrade, early check-in and late check out, welcome drink upon arrival, full Scottish Breakfast each morning, a three-course dinner for two people including a bottle of house wine at Blackwood’s Bar & Grill and a Silver Whisky Barrel ride at The Scotch Whisky Experience.

Let’s be honest, we’ve all dreamt of making the most fabulous entrance into work. This week, at least Londoners will see that dream come true, as they can drop the Tube or buse and take unicorn cabs to work instead.

Yes, you read that right. Gay Rainbow Unicorn-drawn carriages. Taking you to work. Thats a fabulous entrance if we’ve ever seen one.

And it’s as fabulous(ly gay) as it sounds: two horses, decked with rainbow manes and horns, draw a white coach, complete with rainbow pattern on the side.

Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:

ABOUT US

Dynamite Travel, LLC was founded by Dr. Terika L. Haynes in 2008. Our goal is to assist all customers with creating unique travel experiences. Over the years Dynamite Travel’s LGBT client base has grown and with new laws being passed we are excited to work with couples not only on vacation planning but also destination wedding planning as well! Dynamite Travel is a company dedicated to creating unforgettable vacation experiences and the team at Dynamite Travel has the credentials, experience, and expertise necessary to make sure that your travel adventures are a blast! At Dynamite Travel we are committed to providing personalized service to each customer.

WHAT WE PROVIDE

Dynamite Travel works with clients to plan their vacation while keeping them involved in the planning process. We provide vacation planning assistance services for vacation packages, cruises, tours, destination weddings, honeymoons, group travel, and more! We also assist customers with excursion planning, dinner reservations, and anything else that will make their vacation experience unforgettable!

OUR MISSION AND VISION

Our mission is to provide high quality travel planning assistance to each client, ensuring that they have an unforgettable vacation experience.

Our vision is to become a leading travel consultancy for clients around the world.

As my plane touched down in Budapest and taxied into the gate, I stood up to stretch my legs and opened Tinder on my iPhone. My eyes were burning from lack of sleep and Kindle fatigue. I had bags to wrangle. But this was important. I opened the settings and changed my search criteria from “women and men” to just “women.”

As I waited for my overstuffed backpack to shoot out of the luggage turnstile, I hopped on the spotty WiFi to assess my options. I swiped right on a Raquel Welch look-alike and on a resident physician whose mischievous grin intrigued me.

At home in California’s Bay Area, I date women and men. However, when I travel overseas, I stick to women. I love men, but they can be a liability — one I’m not willing to risk when I’m on my own in a foreign place where I don’t know the subtle cultural cues, where I can’t call my best friend to come pick me up if things go awry.

I know men who are incredibly trustworthy, with whom I feel safe and that my boundaries are respected. But unfortunately, there a lot of men who don’t have that same reverence for a woman’s “no.” This can happen with female partners, too. But with men, I have had my boundaries crossed or feared violence on many more occasions.

We’ve just returned from a crazy weekend of pool parties, live music, breathable waterproofs, DJ’s and bracing sea air on the Baltic Coast. L Beach is an annual festival now in its seventh year, which brings together around 4000 women in the German resort of Weissenhauser Strand. We didn’t really know what to expect when we arrived at L Beach 2016, aside from the sound of 4000 pairs of comfortable shoes dancing until dawn. We love live music but we weren’t familiar with many of the musicians who were playing. We decided to go with the flow and see as many acts as possible, we had an amazing time and are pleased to say we were blown away by the range of talent at L Beach. We genuinely loved all of these artists and will be updating our music collection immediately. Here are Wandering Wives top five live performances from L Beach 2016:

5. Chefboss
Chefboss were a great surprise for us, we never planned to watch their gig but we are so glad we did. German hip hop doesn’t usually feature that highly on our list of favourite music genres, but the Chefboss chicks brought so much energy to their performance we were jumping around with the crowd and begging for more! It didn’t matter that we couldn’t understand the words to the songs, we were carried along in a wave of excitement and loved every minute of it. They beat some great English speaking acts to a place in our top five live performances at L Beach with their awesome stage presence and enthusiasm. With their team of hot dancers wearing wrestling masks, they not only owned the stage but the whole festival. There is only one word to describe the Chefboss crew: Fierce!…read more on Wandering Wives